


One Sweet Love

by ventusphoenix



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Shopping Mall AU, based on Shining Live's Idols at the Mall set, say hello to burger joint/ice cream bar AU, who needs baker/florist AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 21:43:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15872307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ventusphoenix/pseuds/ventusphoenix
Summary: Outside of class, university student Ai Mikaze works as an employee at the local mall's ice cream bar. When a new burger shop opens up opposite them, Ai is curious to see how business will change because of it.What he doesn't count on is his life being changed, and it's all thanks to the new manager running the burger joint.





	1. Vanilla

**Author's Note:**

> Shining Live's newest gacha set gave my friend and I ideas, and 48 hours later we've built up an extensively crafted AU that we hope everyone will enjoy with us.
> 
> (tbh we were just thirsty for more RanAi content and we have a habit of enabling each other and giving each other fic ideas)
> 
> First chapter is a little short since it's only the introduction, and I'm still working on my ongoing 'seasons of change' series!  
> But I hope you enjoy this little snippet into the new AU I'm working on.

Ai didn't have a sweet tooth; that title was better reserved for his friend Camus, though he never once used it to describe himself. But being an employee at the local mall's ice cream bar, people were quick to assume that he liked sweet things. Actually, Ai was more interested in the creativity that came with running an ice cream bar. He liked seeing some of the interesting combinations that people came up with, enjoyed trying to analyse people based on the ice cream flavours that they picked. Thankfully, his manager Natsuki wasn't put off by Ai's tendency to stare at customers while serving them.

"Ai-chan," Natsuki says lightly and touches Ai's elbow, causing him to blink. The customer is occupied on their phone, so they haven't noticed Ai scrutinising them for the past few minutes.

Ai blinks once more and continues preparing the customer's order. He drizzles the sundae in chocolate sauce, adding a sprinkle of chopped peanuts before popping a cherry on top as the finishing touch. He places the dessert on a tray with a spoon and napkin, along with a glass of water and walks over to the customer seated in the corner.

"One vanilla fudge sundae," he says, placing the tray in front of them.

They give their thanks, taking a small spoonful before returning to their phone. Ai bows and walks back to the counter, eyes trained on the lone customer again. Vanilla is a plain flavour; a safe option, and the finest of the flavours as he had once heard it described. The fact that their customer has taken to sitting in the corner conveys to Ai that they don't want to be disturbed. Probably just looking to kill some time, given their simple choice of dessert.

"I can't wait to see what new store will be opening up opposite us," Natsuki says excitedly, clapping his hands together and taking Ai's focus away from their customer.

"I think I already know," Ai says with a small smirk, and Natsuki immediately becomes curious.

"Eh? Tell me, Ai-chan!" he exclaims, grabbing Ai's hands.

Ai shakes his head, freeing himself from Natsuki's grasp. Natsuki tries to press him for clues, but Ai is persistent, keeping silent until his shift is over. He changes out of his uniform and folds the clothes into his satchel bag, bowing to Natsuki as he leaves.

He walks over to the new store, trying to peek past the boarded panels and catch a glimpse of the shop. According to Ren, most of the construction was finished, and one of the employees he had decided to hire was an old friend who had experience with working in a restaurant. It meant they wouldn't need to spend as long on the training process, allowing the store to open sooner.

Truth be told, Ai is excited and somewhat curious to see how Ren's business is going to fair in the shopping mall. He sends a message to him asking about the grand opening, and receives a reply telling him to be patient. Ai is good at waiting, so he sends another reply back conveying his anticipation before slinging his bag over his shoulder and starting on the way home.

* * *

A week later, there's balloons opposite the ice cream bar, with garlands of streamers and flags decorating the once boarded up shop front. Colourful signage in the windows announces the grand opening of the new burger joint, just as Ai had known would be opening up. With his shift about to start, he doesn't have time to drop in and congratulate Ren on the opening, so he makes a note to visit during his break.

"Ai-chan!" Natsuki greets as he walks in, slipping behind the counter. "Look! It's a burger shop!"

"Are you surprised?" Ai smiles, placing his bag down and pulling out his uniform.

"Yes! It will be interesting to see how this changes business," he says, looking towards the burger joint. "I've already met Maru-chan, he seems really nice!"

"Maru-chan?" Ai repeats, straightening up with his uniform in hand.

"Yeah, the new manager!"

Ai quirks an eyebrow and tilts his head, blinking. In all his talk with Ren, he had automatically assumed he would be the one running the shop. Ren had never mentioned passing on management to anyone else, so this news comes as a surprise to Ai. He peers over the counter, trying to see into the shop on the other side. But there's a steady line of customers, everyone eager to try the new store and wanting to get in on the grand opening specials. It's hard to make out the employees with all the people in the way, so Ai can't see who the mysterious manager is for the moment.

"You should introduce yourself!" Natsuki insists.

"Yes, I think I'll do that," Ai murmurs, turning towards the staff change room.

After changing into his uniform, he takes his spot behind the counter and decides to tidy up the display while waiting for new customers to come in. He busies himself with arranging the various toppings and making notes on which ice cream flavours will need filling up soon. He stares at the tub of vanilla ice cream, which has slowly dwindled down to a few remaining scoops over the past couple days. He shakes his head, not really understanding what made vanilla such a popular flavour. It seemed like an uninteresting choice when there were so many other ice cream flavours to choose from. But Ai supposed the charm of vanilla ice cream was being able to mix and match various toppings whilst not taking away from the flavour of the ice cream itself.

He jots down vanilla in his tablet, continuing through the rest of the flavours and steadily compiling a list. Every now and then, he looks up in case of a customer arriving. But no one comes in, and instead he finds himself drawn to the burger joint, waiting for his chance to meet the new manager.


	2. Strawberries and Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren decides it's time for Ai to meet his manager friend working the burger bar, and unknowingly causes a misunderstanding in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Evi](http://twitter.com/evitalize) and I made a mistake in creating this AU, because now all of our conversation is filled with us spamming food pictures at each other and visiting cafés and dessert bars in the name of research.
> 
> Maybe you should prepare a snack in hand for future updates, just in case you get hungry while reading. ;)

Having a friend with a sweet tooth inevitably led to Ai learning about classic flavour combinations; it didn't help that said friend was also somewhat of a tea aficionado, so they often met over afternoon tea when they were both studying at the same university. Ai can practically taste the apple and cinnamon on his tongue, thinking back on the warm apple strudels they bought at a bakery once. Lemon and sugar was also a staple flavour in many crepe shops, including Camus' own. Ai didn't really understand that combination at first, but now he can see the appeal of the harmony between sweet and sour.

He slides open the door on the display cabinet, eyes glossing over the colourful desserts inside. Cakes of various shapes and sizes line the shelves, some crafted by Ai himself, but all of them lovingly decorated by Natsuki. Ai pulls out one of the cakes for his customer; it's a mini strawberry-flavoured one shaped like a pig, complete with chocolate detailing for the face. He's quite proud as he helped to come up with the recipe, but as with everything that Natsuki touched, he liked to add an element of cuteness. The embarrassing part is that it actually worked; many students in the area now come in looking for the cakes, usually after seeing the pictures on their social media feed. Ai sometimes peeps on people scrolling through their feeds in the middle of class, and he's definitely seen it pop up once or twice.

(It's not his fault if he happens to be glancing over at the time, but social media makes for such an  _excellent_  source of data.)

The cakes are crafted not only like pigs, but other animals too. Natsuki is particularly fond of the lemon meringue one designed like a chick, probably because of its resemblance to their store mascot. Ai carefully lowers the cake into a box before folding up the sides and presenting it to his customer. He hopes they will enjoy the dessert, and appreciate the technique it took to create the layers of strawberry sponge, jam, and cream running through it.

The customer takes it with a somewhat sheepish glance and quickly shuffles out of the store, Ai blinking back in response. They were a male student, not one whom Ai recognised but they looked to be around his age if not younger. He surmised they were either buying for a friend (girlfriend, perhaps?) or actually really liked cute things and was shy about being seen buying the cake. Ai isn't one to judge, not when he knows the hands that were behind the making of the cake. He can hear Natsuki in the kitchen, singing aloud as he goes about his work. Ai shakes his head and smiles to himself, bending down to grab something from the cupboards below.

"Aimi~."

He immediately flinches at the nickname, appearing from below the counter and folding his arms across his chest. A man with long orange hair comes walking into the ice cream bar, waving at Ai as soon as he catches sight of him.

"Ren," he replies flatly, earning a wink from said person.

"You are looking as lovely as always," he says smoothly, leaning against the countertop.

"And you are still as insufferable as ever," Ai retorts back, swatting at Ren's arm with a cleaning cloth. "Move it, you're in the way."

Ren relents with a shrug, standing to one side but not showing any sign of leaving. Ai quirks an eyebrow, narrowing his eyes at him as he sprays the surface of the counter and gives it a wipe down.

" _Mon chéri_ , is that any way to speak to your prospective customers?" Ren asks, lips slightly pursed.

"Please, you've never bought anything from me since I started working here," Ai continues, unimpressed. "Does the owner of a burger store really have time to be lurking around here?"

"I'm appalled that you think I'm 'lurking', can't I pay a visit to a friend?"

"I would appreciate it more if said friend didn't interrupt me during work," Ai sighs, but he knows the store isn't busy at the moment, causing his argument to fall flat.

He gestures for Ren to take a seat at one of the empty tables, pouring two glasses of water before walking around the counter to join him. Seeing as the store isn't busy, he knows Natsuki won't mind if he takes a few minutes off from minding the counter. Honestly, Ai considers himself lucky that he has someone like Natsuki as his manager. He was friendly and easy-going, and most of the time he felt more like a friend than his superior at work. He looked after all of the employees in his care, and it wasn't often that managers gave their employees the opportunity to help come up with new ice cream flavours and menu items. For a constantly inquisitive mind such as Ai's own, it's the perfect arrangement, and he's forever grateful for being able to land the job.

"If you have time to be here, I take it you're not working very hard," Ai smirks, taking a sip from his glass.

"On the contrary, Aimi," Ren wags a finger in front of him. "I would have visited earlier, but you've probably seen how busy the store is."

"Busy with customers, or busy talking to the ladies?" Ai remarks, causing Ren to laugh.

"Maybe I should send some of the ladies your way. I'm sure they would love some ice cream to cleanse the palate after having one of our burgers," he smiles, but Ai quickly shakes his head.

"Women are always worried about putting on too many calories," he says, swirling the ice in his glass.

Ren shrugs, taking a sip of water before lowering the glass, turning his head back towards the burger store. Ai follows his line of sight, to where some of the flags are still hanging up from the previous week. The words 'Red Hot Grill' shine in big bold letters above the entrance, and there are posters advertising the store's opening specials and set meals along the walls.

"So… when do I get to meet your 'hot friend' running the joint?" Ai asks, putting air quotations around the phrase as if to emphasise they were Ren's words and not his own.

"He should be here any minute~," Ren winks. "Why, curious to see if he's your type?"

"On the contrary," he says smoothly, bordering on slightly mocking. "I'm here to judge your definition of 'hot', but don't worry I've already set my expectations low."

"Oh  _chéri_ , I don't think you'll be disappointed."

Ai frowns, swirling his glass again. The look in Ren's eyes is only too mischievous, and he doesn't trust it one bit. He can only hope this is Ren playing with him. Ai stands up, intending to return to work as he picks up his glass and walks behind the ice cream bar. He takes his time washing up, wiping down the sink and benchtops.

When he returns to the counter, somebody has walked into the store, their eyes drifting over the pastel-coloured walls and overly adorable decorations, courtesy of Natsuki. They're wearing the same uniform as Ren, although with the addition of a visor on their head and a set of badges pinned to the vest. Ren sidles up next to them, throwing an arm around their shoulder as he whistles.

"So good of you to join us,  _amour_ ," he coos.

"Yeah yeah, you done yet?" the stranger replies gruffly in a deep voice, shoving Ren's arm off their shoulder. "Got one o' the other guys on front while you're off foolin' 'round here. They look nervous as hell, you should probably go back and save 'em."

Ai blinks at the conversation, eyes flickering between Ren and the new stranger. He's never really met any of Ren's other friends before, so seeing him being playful with someone other than himself is new to him. It's obvious from the matching uniforms that this person works with Ren, but he can tell from their interactions that they know each other from elsewhere.

Ren loops an arm through the stranger's own and drags him towards the ice cream bar, leaning on the counter again. Ai frowns, giving him an unimpressed look knowing it will need to be cleaned once more, but Ren ignores the look in favour of pulling on the arm of his friend.

"Let me introduce you two. Aimi, this is—"

"Maru-chan!" Natsuki exclaims suddenly as he appears from the kitchen, causing Ai to startle. "You came!"

Ai looks at Natsuki before turning his attention back to Ren's friend, who appears just as surprised at Natsuki's sudden entrance. Ai blinks, and it takes him a moment to realise that the new manager Natsuki had spoken fondly about, and Ren's 'hot friend' running the burger joint is none other than the person standing in front of him.

"Yo," said person gives a lazy wave, smirking slightly.

Now that Ai is looking at him properly, he notes his wild hair poking out from beneath the visor. He wonders if the lack of a hairnet is really hygienic, considering that he worked in food preparation. Upon closer observation, he also notes that he has two differently coloured eyes; one is a pale grey, the other a striking magenta.

Ai feels a hand on his shoulder, turning slightly to see Natsuki standing there. He gives a light squeeze, as if noticing that Ai had been staring at Ren's friend. Ai shakes his head and takes a step back, falling in place beside Natsuki.

"Sorry we can't stay long," he says, already tugging on Ren's arm ready to drag him back to the burger joint. 

"Not at all! We're really glad you guys came!" Natsuki says happily, smiling widely. "And well, you know where to find us now!"

"You are kind of hard to miss," Ren laughs, winking as his friend yanks on his arm. "We'll be seeing more of you from now on. Until then."

"I can't wait," Ai mutters flatly as Natsuki cheerfully waves them goodbye.

Work resumes as normal after Ren and his friend leave, Ai helping Natsuki to prepare the fresh cakes once they're finished baking in the oven. He also helps to make a new batch of ice cream, taking in the sweet scent of the mixture as he pours it into the churner.

"Your friend seems really interesting," Natsuki pipes up as Ai is cleaning the bench.

"Careful about saying that aloud, you'll only be feeding his ego," he replies back, rolling his eyes.

"You act like you don't want him around," Natsuki giggles, pulling down some supplies from a cupboard above his head. "But actually, I think you're happy that you'll see him more often now, Ai-chan."

Ai huffs, brushing off Natsuki's comment as he grabs a broom and begins sweeping the shop front. It makes for a good distraction, and he can avoid having to speak to Natsuki directly. He doesn't want to admit that he's actually right, even though Ai can feel his mouth twitching upwards into a smile at his words.

* * *

Ren must have put his friend up to visiting again, because the following day he returns to PiyoPiyo. It's a lot sooner than Ai had been expecting, given the busyness of the store and how desperate he had been for Ren to come back the previous day. Ai is at the counter, tilting his head when he walks up to him.

"We meet again," he says politely. "How can I help you?"

"Ren asked me t'pass these on," he replies, reaching into the pocket of his apron and pulling out some scraps of paper. "Opening special coupons for the store. There should be enough for you and Natsuki."

Ai takes them, mumbling his thanks as he accepts the coupons. Admittedly he's not big on burgers, but with how Ren had been hyping up his cooking, a part of him is curious if they will live up to his expectations. 

"I'll be goin' then, Aimi," he says with a wave, and Ai groans.

"Not you too," he cringes, shaking his head.

"What's the matter?" he frowns, turning back towards him.

"I don't need you calling me by that nickname as well."

"What?"

"It's just 'Ai', Maru," he says flatly. "Who do you think you are anyway? Using a nickname with me when we barely know each other."

His words come out a bit more harsh than intended, but he's simply stating the honest fact. Nicknames denote closeness, and the person standing in front of him is far from earning that right. He doesn't feel comfortable enough to call him a friend yet; perhaps with time, but for now he's an acquaintance at best.

"Pretty bold of you to say that when you're usin' a nickname yourself," said person snaps, and Ai blinks.

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't even get my name right."

"But… your name is 'Maru', isn't it?" Ai says, completely serious.

"Where the hell did you get that idea?" he barks out. "'Sides, you're telling me your name isn't 'Aimi'?"

"No, that's just what Ren insists on calling me all the time."

There's a brief moment of silence, and then they both dissolve into laughter. Ai can only shake his head, realising the misunderstanding that came about as a result of being friends with Ren and Natsuki. It feels nice, being able to laugh like this for the first time in a long while.

"Let's try this again," Ren's friend grins with a warmth that already draws Ai in. "Name's Ranmaru Kurosaki. Nice t'meet ya."

He smiles, intrigued by his gentleness that so belies his rougher appearance. He wants to know more, find out what kind of person he is, and over time come to know him as a friend.

"Ai Mikaze," he replies softly. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Ren peppering his speech with random French words is totally valid okay.)
> 
> Come find me laughing on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/amagiyas) because I got three extra copies of Burger Ran while trying to roll Ice Cream Ai.
> 
> I also have a [Tumblr](http://skyress.tumblr.com/) that I'm not as active on right now, but I'm happy to answer any asks or messages if you would like to send them to me!

**Author's Note:**

> Catch me crying about RanAi over at [@amagiyas](https://twitter.com/amagiyas)—


End file.
